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Il Poggione
Il Poggione Lifford came to us with a wonderful tasting of four of this fine winery's fabulous vintages. The winemaker's daughter, herself heavily involved in the winemaking process, also joined us to share her first hand experience at the vineyards. This winery is situated in Montalcino, Tuscany. Which is itself further seperated into four quadrants. Namely north, west, east and south. Il Poggione has been operational since the end of the 1800s and lies in the southern side of Montalcino. Where the soil is poor (perfect for Sangiovese), sometimes sandy and sometimes contains a bit of clay. Please download and peruse the handout we have uploaded to get a sense of what we talked about. This audio file is a recording that was made near the end of the training where our very own JY put to us a question about how to approach the topic of these wonderful wines at a table. The conversation is great if poorly recorded. Pay special attention to our guard honor the AC. Chambar Staff Vs. Il Poggione Notes and Slides: These are the four wines we tasted, from left to right. A map breakdown of where the winery is situated. An interesting note about the vineyards themselves is the area can be quite windy. This is wonderful, especially when it can rain a lot and often. The wind will dry the growing grapes and vines allowing for more heat to kiss the fruit. The added benefit is that moisture-related diseases are uncommon because of the dryness throughout the growth of the fruit. A wonderful fact about the hilly terrain of this winery is that depending on where the conditions are best for the particular year of growth the winemaker can decide from which hilltop or valley to pick the best grapes. Was it a hot year? Pick from the top of the hill. Was it a cooler year? Then try the valley. Though the size of the winery prohibits them being rated organic they state that they are conscious of their impact. The wines they grow, and indeed everything they receive from nature, is a gift and they intend to keep operating in good faith. Funny thing about Montalcino: They aren't allowed to irrigate. So if it's a dry year, tough luck! You get what you get. Il Poggione will over ever age their wines in large (3k or 5k) French oak barrels. They employ 80 staff who work year round, and every helps with the manual harvesting. Specifically when making Brunello they use their oldest vineyard, ergo their oldest vines. The beauty of old vines is that their roots are deep. They are less effected by the whether. Indeed during their hottest summers (2015 was HOT!) these old vines were found to not only be showing strong and open leaves, but also showed new vegetation. That's something to talk about. Even though such an esteemed and history winery is steeped in tradition they aren't adverse to the benefits of using modern technology. In fact, submerged cap fermentation is very uncommon in Montalcino. It is a process that can, among other things, maximize the tanic characteristics of the fruit and seeds for better balance in flavour. The wines Rosso Di Montalcino The "younger brother of Brunello." Spends 10-15 days in submerged cap for the fermentation. Appelation rules (Important things to know): # There can only be local Sangiovese grapes used. # No wood aging requirement # Must age at least one year. Tasting notes: * The 2013 year was cooler. Yielded a profile of red fruit, acidity, fresh and pleasant characteristics. * Fatty foods + Rosso Di M. = purity of the fruit characteristics through the chemistry and interaction on the palate. Brunello di Montalcino One of the first wines to get DOCG 30-36 months to age in the barrels 1 year bottle aging to smooth out the wine Cannot be sold bellow 12.5% abv. Tasting Notes: * 2009: Warmer vintage. Delicious and savoury. * 2010: Highly expected vintage! The weather for the year was normal. Hot summer, wet autumn, cool winter, etc. The diurnal (night and day) characteristics of this particular vintage helped balance the ripeness of the fruit with the acidity to create something majestic. The product was so highly sought after it nearly sold out as soon as production completed. If you can find any of this you need to drink it. We tasted this at 2:30pm. Nicole from Lifford opened this wine for us at 7:30am! Even that wasn't enough time to let the wine breathe and come into what would be a standout glass. Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva - Vigna Paganelli This is a wine that isn't made every year. Before production, every year, the stock is rated out of five stars. If the samples are determined to be anything less than five out of five stars they will not make this wine. In the past sixteen years they have only made the Riserva four times! 2004, 2006, 2007, and 2013. The Riserva must be aged an additional year before it is allowed to be sold. At Il Peggione they add an extra year in the barrels. The grapes for this Riserva come exclusively from the oldest vineyard at the winery - Paganelli. If you're reading this you probably weren't at the tasting. Let me fill you in. This was fucking delicious. Tasting notes: * Dark fruit. * Chocolate. * Leather. * Sex. * Awesome. * I want more.